Charting non-numerical data

[DebbieT69]

I'm really in the dark - have been asked if it's possible to produce graphs/charts based on inequalities monitoring information - gender, nationality, age etc. I'm capturing info from several events, one sheet per event. Had a look at COUNTIF but not sure it's what I want and looks like I'd need sub-sheet for each??
Any assistance would be appreciated - have attempted to attach a screen cap to show the kind of data I have
Capture.PNG

[Melvinrobb]

Try uploading a workbook with some sample mock data. I think you just want to make pivot tables/charts.

[DebbieT69]

here's the actual worksheet, will have a look at pivot tables when I get 5 minutes - thanks for the info

[DebbieT69]

have had a look - I can see how it breaks data down (on seperate sheet) but this isn't what my team are looking for, trying to create graph doesn't work - although it does tell me when I can't use a specific chart with a pivot table!

[Melvinrobb]

I am unsure what it is you are looking to do.
If you are unable to make a pivot table/chart, Then I would suggest manually making an example of what you are trying to accomplish, so it is a bit more clear.

[DebbieT69]

that's pretty much what I want it to do but didn't look like that when I tried it - would it make a difference whether I'm using 2003 or 2007?

when I ask for a bar chart I get a blank box appearing in the sheet as if there should be data within it, I had tried by selecting just age and gender to keep it simple but still just the blank box, perhaps this is a technical issue rather than a problem with Excel....

[Melvinrobb]

I am guessing that you did not have a field in the "Values" area of the pivot table.
Whatever field you drag in there will be shown in the graph. If it is a non-numerical field, it will default and show the count of each instance.
You can upload a version of the pivot table you have made, so I can see what is happening. If you have not used Pivot tables before, I would definitely look for a tutorial online on the basics.

[DebbieT69]

yep have whizzed through tutorial on basics to get to this point. I'm clearly going to have to go through it again!

thanks for your help with this, I won't be able to get much more time on this today but will hopefully get something uploaded either Friday or next week